The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 20, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 07, 2002
Charles S. Kunze, Cupertino, CA (US);
Andrew V. Le, San Jose, CA (US);
Muhammad Rasheed, Fremont, CA (US);
Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide structures for reducing erosion of a slit valve utilized in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. Specifically, non-metallic slit valve components such as a compressible sealing member and a barrier that assist in sealing the valve closure against the slit valve seat, are positioned on the valve seat rather than on the valve closure. This orientation removes the seal and the seal barrier from the direct line of sight of the plasma within the processing chamber, reducing exposure of the sealing member and seal barrier slit valve components to erosion and thereby extending the lifetime of the valve.